Alvon: Over the Hedge
by TheNaturalLlama3
Summary: Alvin is a lonely and abused girl who never knew what family meant. Simon was just struggling to keep his family on schedule. One spring they meet in a twist when humans take over Simon's old forest, keeping him and his family trapped behind a hedge. Alvin knowing humans, volunteers. But, there is more to her story then she lets on. Fem/Alvin


**Alvin's POV**

* * *

I put the money into the machine and waited for the last bag of chips to fall down. I was so excited, I hadn't gotten a treat like this in forever! I began to get giddy as the metal rod uncurled. That's when the bag fell. On the glass. _Stuck_. "No!" I cursed, banging the glass. I looked at the vending machine. Maybe I could crawl in and get it! I hopped through the flap, but my butt got stuck. "Shoot!". Squirming around to try and fit, I realized, embarrassingly...that my butt was too big. Looking up, the bag was not to far above me. 'Maybe I could…?' I stretched my arm, straining the muscles. I wasn't close enough. "Ugh!" I banged the glass next to me and pulled my way out. I narrowed my eyes at the bag, trying to will it down. But that would never happen. Looking through my golf bag where I carried my necessities, I pulled out the toy reptile head with a rod out. Sticking it up the open door, I tried grabbing it with the mouth of the toy. "Come on, come on…" I mumbled. No result. The toy didn't have enough grip.

"Ugh, come on!" I nearly cried. I began hitting the bag; that's when the toy broke. I gave it a nasty look before throwing it behind my back. I reached down in my bag and found my boomerang. I threw it to my left. "Ok, this _has_ to work!" It took a matter of three seconds for the boomerang to fly back and hit the machine. My shoulders slumped along with my mouth. "How?!" the bag remained untouched. This is when I lost it. Hunger overtook me and I was hitting and kicking the machine. I pulled out my golf club from my bag and began whacking the machine. That's when the power went out and the large hill behind me reflected off the glass. My head jerked back to the place I've been living at. Where _he_ was living at. "Marcus...No Alvin, bad idea, bad!" I snapped at myself, hitting my head a few times. That's when my stomach gurgled and the familiar pain of hunger ran up my throat.

'I guess he wouldn't notice a bag or two missing' I thought. Before I could second guess it, I had put my bag strap around my shoulder and was making my way back to the cave where all 'my' winter food went. As I approached the bottom of the unclimbable, steep hill, I pulled out my fishing rod. I looked at it for a second and at the height. Using all my chipmunk strength, I pulled back and whipped the end as far as I could. It caught. 'Yes!'. I began to reel myself up. I looked around for any owls that might be around, but didn't see any. When I got to the top, I threw myself over the cliff edge and threw my back to some metal signs. I cringed as they banged, and froze. 'Did I wake him? Please be asleep, please be asleep, please be asleep!'

I stayed still for who knows how long. When nothing happened, I turned the corner and heard the undying noise of Marcus in his hibernation. Something _I_ should be in, but couldn't. That's when I spotted a few bags of chips laying around. I grabbed one. Two. Three. They were the first ones laying around. I was about to leave when to my left I saw the pile _I_ had stocked up for the winter. Not that I get to have any. I let the chip bags fall. Something in me snapped. _I_ had gathered all that food, not _him_. Rightfully it's mine, so why am _I_ starving on the streets while he gets fed? I walked over to the massive pile. Only, I almost walked into Marcus, who stood in his sleep. I froze, his large, fat body something I always fear. He was another chipmunk like me. He fell in front of me, still dead asleep.

I jumped back from him, not wanting to get within _smelling_ distance from him. Seriously, the guy never bathes, I swear! When nothing happened again, I let the involuntary breath I had been holding go. Out of my bag, I found my paddle board and ball. I hit the ball once. Marcus didn't react. Hitting it a few more times, I swung the ball around a spike on the ceiling and flew over the sleeping chipmunk. That's when I landed on an empty, tin pie pan. Another chill shot threw me as I jumped off it, waiting for Marcus to wake up from the noise. But I landed on _another one!_ Again and again until they ran out. The slob. When he _still_ remained asleep, I walked up to the pile. "Ok, just take what you need Alvin. _Only_ what you need" I mumbled to myself. Note to self: _Don't_ gather food while starving. Within two minutes I had _everything_ packed up.

I sat on top of the loaded cart with a look of approval. Pulling from my bag an emergency raft, I tossed it under the cart with practiced ease. I tensed as I pressed the trigger. The cart flew over Marcus and landed with a bang. 'Surely _that_ woke him up!'. Preparing for my death, I turned around and saw him. Asleep. I fell back on the cart with a shuddering breath of relief, making a small noise. That's when he snorted awake. 'Yep, I knew my luck wasn't _that_ straight'. "Alvin?" he choked out. His red eyes looked at me, paralyzing me in my place. "The moon's not full. You woke me up a week early?!" He nearly shouted.

I slid down the pile, still struggling to breathe. His eyes traveled to the cart. "Oh no, please don't tell me you're stupid enough to steal from me girl". How much I wanted to shout at him. To scream and yell that he was the devil and that this was _my_ food. My my voice was locked up, and I couldn't make a sound. He laughed darkly. "Well, in that case, I'll just need to teach you another lesson" I watched as his dark body stood and he cracked his knuckles. With every foot he stepped forward, I took three back. "W..wait!" I squeaked out. "It...it...it's st..still in th..the cave! So, technically, it's not stolen!" I jittered out. That's when my back hit the cart and all I could hear is the squeaking wheels rolling away. Marcus' eyes left me and I turned around. The cart was halfway out the cave. "No!" "NO!" we both cried. Him because of his stomach. Me because of my life.

We both ran to the edge of the cliff as the cart fell off. I jumped at every jolt the cart got as it somehow fell perfectly on it's wheels. It rolled on the solid ground until it stopped in the middle of the road. "And Stop!" Marcus called right as the cart stopped. I let my head fall, wavy hair falling next to my face. "That was close" I commented, forgetting who I was talking to. That's when a large Semi drove right into the cart, destroying everything in it. My heart dropped. His red eyes bore into mine and I only had seconds to react before he swung at me. Choosing to jump down the steep cliff, I ran as fast as I could. Somehow, Marcus caught up, leaping over me. I tried to skid to a stop, but his arm caught mine. His grip was like iron, feeling like he was about to break my arm. "YOU STUPID GIRL!" He screamed, hitting and clawing me over and over.

"STOP IT, WAIT! I CAN GET IT ALL BACK!" I screamed myself as he threw me into a wall, paw around my neck. His grip tightened, closing my airway. "...st...op! If you k..kill me, you...you'll have to do it…" I gasped out. His glowing eyes bore into mine and he didn't stop his grip from tightening. I struggled for air as my vision went black. 'So this is how it ends. What a life' No life flashed before my eyes, no memories. Just everything going black. Right before I passed out, he threw me to the ground. The air was like heaven in my lungs as I coughed and gasped. My body felt like jello and I couldn't move anything. But I was yanked up again by Marcus and he shoved me into the wall, _again_. "You can?" he asked. One of my paws went to my throat as I nodded. "Even my red cart?" "...redder…" I choked out. "My blue cooler?" "...on my...list…" I coughed out. "D..does it need to be…" "YES! And I want my Spuddies! I love those things. With a Spuddy, enough just isn't enough". I nodded again, trying not to cry.

"Can...get you the picnic pack. Family size" I mumbled, trembling from fear. "They have that?" He questioned. Between my trembling, I'm surprised I could nod. "Alright Alvin. I'm going back to sleep…" he said, and for a second, _just for a second_, I believed I was going to be ok. But when his arms pinned mine again, I jumped. "I'm waking up when that moon is full. And all _my_ stuff had better be _right back_ where you found it!" he threatened. My mind was in shock. A week? He's giving me a _week?!_ "But...that's impossible, it...it's only a week!" I rasped out. He jerked me again. "Not my problem. It better be there girl, or…" he moved his lips almost on mine. "...it's not your _life_ that you'll be losing".

My eyes went wide and my mouth dropped a bit. He...he doesn't mean...he wouldn't! He purred and looked down at my body, and I suddenly felt disgusting. "Full moon girl. _All_ my stuff. And if you think of running, I will hunt you down!" he promised. I stayed frozen and just nodded. He shot himself off me like I was some sort of disease and began to walk away. "O...Ok, you..you just rest. I...I got this!" I called out in an attempt to hide my fear. A lousy attempt. I watched as his fat chipmunk body was hauled back up into his cave. I slid off the wall he had me pinned to and hit something cold. I didn't move, still caught in the moment he had almost kissed me. I began to breathe. Fast. Tears fell before I could stop them and I hit the back of my head on whatever was behind me.

Something fell and I realized I was at the vending machine I had been at before this all happened. What fell was the bag of chips I was trying to get. I pulled the bag out and threw it at the dark humor of my life. I sat there and sobbed out my trauma. I waited until all my tears had dried before I got up and to work. I walked out into the open and saw the road. 'Inventory. Right' I thought dryly. I dropped my bag and ran out into the road. I picked up the flat Spuddies container and out fell dust. That's when there was honking. And lights. Before I knew it, another Semi was almost on me. I ducked as the car drove by. Feeling my chest, I sadly realized I was still alive. I took inventory of all the wrappers and went to take a break. That's when I noticed abandoned food on a bench.

Hope of food ran through me and I searched the containers. They were all empty. I even tried the drink, but nothing. I took a look at the garbage bin, but decided against it. I wasn't in the mood to be miserable _and_ smelly. I chose a direction and began walking. There wasn't anything of interest on the highway. Until I noticed a sign. It had a light on it and had a picture of a neighborhood. 'Now, _there's_ some hope!' I thought. I ran through a small wooded area and came upon a fence. Beyond that fence was human life for miles. A hopeful grin drew on my face. "Maybe I can do this after all…" I took down the hill and into the human world to find out more about the place. Last time I checked, this wasn't here before. 'Must have been over winter'.

* * *

**Simon's POV**

I was startled awake by a glop of snow falling on my head. "Ack! Ok, I'm up! I'm up!" I cried, running out the log. I shivered from the cold and looked around. From what I could see, everything was green and fully grown. 'Spring already. Wow, one of the quickest winters ever' I thought. I heard birds chirping and smiled at the cool air. It was a beautiful day out. Sure there was still some snow patches, but dragonflies were buzzing around. That was enough for me. "Spring" I said softly. Then with a jolt, I suddenly realized; "Wait a minute, that means there's only 274 days until winter! We need to start working". I shook some more water out from my fur then turned back into the log. "Ok everyone, time to wake up! Hibernation's over!". Two seconds later Hammy was up and zooming out of the log. "Morning!" he said abruptly. "Oh, I gotta pee pee!" he said. Then he was gone. "Hey, NOT IN THE LAKE WE DRINK FROM!" I called back to him.

He was a red squirrel who was abandoned at birth. I shook my head at his antics. "Ok, everyone else, come on! It's spring! We have to start working!". Hammy was back. "Ok. Oh! Uh, wait!" and then he was gone. I rolled my eyes again. "Guys! Don't make me come in there!". From inside, I could hear Brittany's voice. "Ya'll better listen. I've been holding something in all winter, and _I'm about to let it out!_" she threatened. _That_ got everyone moving. They all shot past me in familiar blurs. I watched as Brittany slowly came out, her white stripes the only thing I can vaguely make out. "Thank you Britt". I heard her huff. "Oh, I can clear a room Simon. _That much_ I can do". I chuckled. I watched everyone's figures move around, all blurs with my bad vision.

I had always wondered what everyone looked like, but it's impossible for me to see. I was born with bad vision. Hard to mourn something you never had. I walked back into the log to try and find any sort of food. I sniffed around until I found nine grapes still on the stem. That was all that was left. "Good grief, this is what I was afraid of". Walking out of the log, I tried getting everyone's attention. "Um, guys? Hello, hey!" No one paid any attention to me. That's when I cleared my throat and held out the stem. _That_ got their attention. "Ok, so you know what _this_ means" Just then, Hammy sped back and raised his hand. "Um, Simon". "Just a second Hammy".

"This means we were nine berries away from starvation!" I announced. They all gasped. "Ok, too intense. I mean we were nine berries away from intense hunger pains". I walked around the group and gave them each a grape. "Simon!" Hammy snapped. "Not now Hammy" I told him again. I greeted everyone good morning. "So, what I want to tell you all is-" "Simon!". I got irritated real quick. "Not now Hammy! If you have to go again, just go!". He covered his mouth, but stopped talking when I gave him a grape. "What I was saying is we cut it a little close this year. So this time, we need to-" "Fill the log all the way to the top!" Ozzie interrupted. "Exactly! All the way to the top! Because what are we?" "Foragers!" everyone called. "And what do we forage?" "Food!" They replied.

I chuckled as they praised my organizing skills. "Ok Hammy, what is it?"

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

"What is what?"

"What is it you wanted to say?"

"Huh?Oh! What was it? What was it, what was it, what was it?!" He tried, knocking his head. I stood there with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah! There's a weird thing over there! I've never seen it before! It's _really, really_ scary! Follow me!" Then he was off. A few of them looked at me. I just shrugged and ran after him. We followed him until we saw it. "Oh…" I said as he pointed. It looked like a wall, but smelled like leaves. It was giant. I covered some of the sun. I slowly looked to my right. It continued on forever. I looked left. Same story. Hammy then zoomed down. All you could hear is his echo "It never ends!". He sped back and went the other direction. Then he came back. "It never ends that way too" he whimpered. The conversation behind me started on what the thing was called. "Simon?" Lou asked. "Well, uh, it's, um, obviously some kind of bush". I took a few steps forward. I could hear everyone behind me follow. "I would be a lot less afraid of it if I knew what it was called" Penny spoke. "Oh! Let's call it Steve!" Hammy jumped.

"Steve?" I repeated. "Yes!", "I like Steve", "Oh, I'm a lot less afraid of Steve" everyone behind me said. Ozzie stepped forward. "Oh great and powerful Steve...What do you want?!" he dramatized. It remained silent. "I don't think it can speak" I told him. "_I heard that!_" came from behind it. We all jumped back. "_You get over here young man!_" "Ok" Hammy said, head down. I grabbed his shoulder before he went anywhere. "Get back here!"

"But Steve is angry!"

"I think it came from the _other_ side of Steve". Hammy cheered up instantly.

"I mean the bush, I mean...ugh" I groaned.

"There's only one way to find out what this thing is. I'm going to take a look" I continued. I turned around, but couldn't cover up the pit that formed in my stomach. My tail began to tingle. I took a step forward. Then another. That's when I tripped into the bush. "Ouch!" I curse. From behind me I heard "Steve ate Simon!". "Alright Steve, you brought this on yourself!" I heard from Brittany. "Brittany stop! He didn't _eat_ me, I just tripped". She backed down. "Look, I'm going over there. _Nobody_ move, got it?". I didn't get a reply.

When I stepped out on the other side of the bush, light was instantly in my eye. I covered the light with my hand and looked around. There was a bunch of...things. There was a statue of...a turtle? And a bush carved out as a bird. "What is this place?" I began to hear a buzz and a bee passed by my face. "Oh, hey little…" it flew into something and there was a zap. It got fried! It fell in front of me. "...fella…" I covered my mouth, about to throw up and tried to head back. That's when I bumped into an animal. It fell over. That's when I realized it was cut in half! "Ah!" I openly cried. I tried to flee from that when I tripped over something. I tried to make out what it was, but was soon blasted with water. "Ahh!" I screamed. I slammed into something and landed on my back.

Looking up, I could see something really blue about to fall on me. Gasping up, I barely missed it. Whatever it was chased me around the grass. I leaped up to avoid being hit by it, but rammed my face into something. "Ow" I fell on my back and something fell on the grass next to me. It was sharp. Looking up, I could see the same kind of silver as the first thing that fell. I managed to dodge a few more that fell until one fell on a snake looking thing around me. My leg got caught in it, and I began flying around uncontrollably as water began falling on me. That's when I got thrown onto some rolling device. I clung on to it as I was rolled out onto some sort of black trail.

That's when I noticed a large, black thing coming at me. I ducked and prepared for my death. Somehow I didn't die. Looking around the rolling thing I was on began heading for something white. "What the...OOF!" I didn't see what it was, but I was thrown into something white and fell back into the rolling thing. That's when something tall and fast was moving at me. I clung to the rolling thing again as the tall thing hit the rolling thing I was on. "AHH!" I screamed as I went flying. The rolling thing hit the ground and I flew out of it, back through the bush and past my family. "Oof! Ack! Ouch!" I cried, finally coming to a halt. I took a minute to catch my breath. "Simon!" "What happened?" "What was over there?!" they interrogated. "Freaky, tall primates!" I gasped. They gasped with me. "They must have come during winter" I said, groaning as I stood. "Oh it was horrible! They had wheels and all these animals, and…" I tried to say it all at once, but I couldn't.

"Simon, you should have died! You should have laid down, and died" Ozzie said. "That's not the worst part! Half the forest is gone! All the trees, berry bushes. Gone…" I whispered in horror. It sunk in the reality of our situation. Where are we going to get our food? "What will we do for food?" Brittany asked. I turned back at them, at a loss. I could see all of their blurry figures, more in focus because they were far away. "I...I don't know. But what I do know is we'll be fine so long as no one...goes over Steve again" I said, getting my bearings straight again. "It's called a hedge!" I heard from behind me.

* * *

**Alvin's POV**

Not that watching these animals discover the human world wasn't hysterical or anything, but I'm on a time limit. "It's called a hedge!" I called down to them from my tree. I saw them all look up at me, the guy they call Simon squinting. Must have bad eyes. "And it is not to be feared my furry friends" I continued. "It is...the gateway to the good life!" I mocked. It was on the poster I saw on the way here. "Um...a what?" Simon called down. "A hedge" I repeated. "Oh...and you are?" I began making my way down the tree. "Oh, where are my manners" I said, sliding down a low branch in front of him. "I'm Alvin!" I said, hopping of the branch. I pushed Simon back from the whip of the branch as it flew back up. "Alvin? Isn't that a guy's name" one of the kid porcupines asked. "Yes. My parents wanted a boy, but got a girl, so that's my name. Now, please don't think I was trying, but I couldn't help overhearing. Allow me to shed some light on what this whole 'hedge' situation is about" I announced

Rummaging through my bag of goodies, I pulled out the flyer that maps the neighborhood out. "You see, what once was mere wilderness is now 54 acres of man-made, air conditioned, manicured paradise. See this little green spot?" I pointed to a small chunk of green on the map. "That's you" they all jumped back a little. "Hold on now, that's a good thing! You're hibernators right? Gather up food, store it for winter?" I looked to the red squirrel. He couldn't have been more than 3 seasons old. "Yeah! We fill the log!" he speedily said, pointing to the log. I hopped over to check it out. I pulled out of my bag my measuring tape. "Really? This log?" I continued to play smoothly. "All the way to the top" the bigger opossum said, using his paw for reference. "Ozzie!" Simon snapped while I measured the cave-like log.

"Let me ask you: how long does it take? To, you know, fill the log?" I questioned. I gave the squirrel the end of the tape and walked backwards to find the length. "274 days" the smaller, female opossum replied. She looked around my age. "Oof!" I genuinely said. Then I hopped on the top of the log and continued my face. "Ever done it in a week?" Simon's humorous look of disbelief made me smile. And made me feel weird. "Hah, a week? That's impossible" he dismissed with a wave. I hopped down and faced them all. "_Not_ if we all worked together! You see, you've all got the skill, I've got the knowledge, and _they_ have the food!" I exclaimed with excitement, hopefully to rile them up. "How much food" I think the female opossum said. I snapped around with a finger. "Tons of food, _heaps_ of food, food out the wazoo!" I said, waving my arms around like crazy.

Simon wasn't buying it, gathering some of my things that I threw out of my bag before. "You know, I don't know what kind of food comes out a 'wazoo', but I know we're _not_ interested in trying it" he said, handing me all my stuff he collected. "I don't know Simon, the guy's making a lot of sense to me" the father hedgehog said. "Yeah, I'm ok with wazoo food dear" the mother hedgehog said, wearing my heart sunglasses. "No you're not. _The tail is tingling_" he tried whispering the last part. With my over paranoid ears however, I caught it. They all had a moment of 'oohh, ok'. I stood there, a bit dumbfounded. "Whoa, whoa, whoa wait! The _what_ is _what_?" I said. Simon sighed, giving me a look while taking my golf club out of the father hedgehog's hand and my sunglasses out of the mother's. "Whenever something doesn't feel right, my tail tingles. And let me tell you, ever since you showed up, it's been tingling like crazy!" he snapped. That's not good. 'Ok Alvin, just play it cool. You can't fail now' I thought.

"Listen, Simon right? _This_…" I said, pointing to the hedge "..._isn't_ a bad thing! You don't need to be afraid of it" I tried to convince. "Well, hate to burst your bubble, but _I am_! And for good reason" he said, gesturing to a black mark on his back. Must have been from that roller skater with the hockey stick. "This is not a birthmark" he said with a point. I pulled a wipe out from my bag and walked over to him. I lightly pulled on his arm and gently wiped the mark off his fur. These are the same wipes I use when Marcus hurts me pretty badly. "Ahh, that's because you went over there without a guide Simon!" I said, finishing up. I tossed the used wipe back in my bag for when I find a garbage. Simon seemed to testingly move his arm. "Whatever. Look, we appreciate you stopping by but we aren't interested".

I had to admire his stubbornness and his confidence with debating with me. I haven't met anyone like that before. "Wait, not interested in the most _delicious_ food you've ever tasted?!" I exclaimed in fake shock. All part of winning them over. "No, we're not!" he snapped again. "Let me say it slowly: _Not. Interested!_" I had to smile. He's challenging me, and for whatever reason, I knew I couldn't back down. I raised my arms in fake defeat. "Ok. Ok, no, I get it. This is just something…" I continued, slowly walking back to my bag and pulling my saved bag of chips out. I will be down a meal, but if I can win their help over, I'll get more. "...you're not open to" I ended, popping open the bag. Out flies the biggest flood of cheese air I've ever seen, coating all of them in cheese dust. I giggled seeing all of them coated in cheese. Hammy, the red squirrel (I think his name was) licked his lips, and nearly screamed "What is THAT!?".

"This? This my friend is the magical combination of corn flower, dehydrated cheese spice, BHa, BHt, and good old MSg. Or in simpler words, the chip! Nacho Cheese flavor" I said, handing everyone a single chip. Yes, even Simon. They all munched on their chip while I let the food do it's magic. They all complimented how good they tasted. Hammy went crazy, eating all he could. Simon didn't look like he tried his yet. "Yeah Simon, those were good!" the skunk said. I grabbed the last handful in there and threw it in the air. "It's _all_ good!" I exclaimed. I lightly nudged Simon and pointed to the chip. He still didn't eat it. "Besides, you can't avoid the outside world forever, might as well learn what you can" I told him quietly. He 'ugh'ed. "Fine". I nodded to him. "All right then, we're going over there. Tonight!" I cheered.

* * *

"Welcome, to suburbia!" I announced, waving my hand over a motion-activated sensor. Lights turned on in the human's backyard we were in. I flicked a switch that turned on some sprinklers. They were all facing up, which gave it a cool look. They all looked around at the place, playing with the sprinklers, with some of the garden decorations. I walked back over to Simon. "How's that tail Simon?" I asked, crossing my arms. He pointed at me and said in a low and threatening voice "Look, if anyone gets hurt, I'm holding _you_ personally responsible!" I nearly flinched at the resemblance of that voice with Marcus. But I held it back. "Look at them Simon. They're having a good time! I'll take responsibility for that" I told him, walking away.

* * *

Overhearing their conversation, I was a little shocked at how ignorant they were to the human world. "Come on guys, it's not like she can walk on water!" Simon exclaimed. Looking at the floating rocks in the pool, I decided to prove him wrong. "Hey everybody! This way to the food!" I called. We journeyed out of the backyard, and into the main road. We passed a large, black car and Hammy asked "What's that?!" I looked at his finger to see he was pointing at said car. "_That_ is an SUV. Humans drive around it because they are slowly losing their ability to walk".

"Geepers! How many humans fit in that thing?!" the female hedgehog said

"Usually...one" I replied.

That's when I heard a click, and a human walked out of the house. I motioned for everyone to jump in the bushes, pulling Simon along because he couldn't see. I'll have to work on that sometime this week. "Whoa!", "Scary creature!", "What is that?" they all said. "Easy, easy! That's just a human being. And they are _just_ as scared of us as we are of them" I schooled them. "Now, if a human _does_ happen to see you, just lay down, roll over, and lick your privates. They love it!" I said. "Oh, you have _got_ to be joking!" Simon said, paws on his hips. "I swear on my life, I've seen it pulled off multiple times. Just have to know the right kind of human to pull it off" I continued. We all heard a 'slam' and watched as the human walked back into the house with a box of food. "Ugh, can we just get the food and go?!" Simon snapped again. He's on guard; that I can respect. But we don't have time for that.

"Didn't you see it? It was in the box. They've _always_ got food! Where we eat to live, _they_ live to eat!" they didn't seem to get it. I sighed. "Let me show you what I'm talking about".

* * *

"The human mouth is called a_ pie-hole_" I said pointing to a T.V. with an ad on. I pointed to the human in the house who sat down. "This kind of human is called a _couch potato_"

* * *

In another house, I pointed to a female human who hung up a phone. "That is the device that _summons _food" I said, pointing it out. We waited until the doorbell rang. "That is one of the many _voices _of food". We ran around to the front where the pizza was being delivered. "That is the portal for the _passing_ of the food". I pointed to the delivery scooter. "That is one of the many food transportation vehicles!" Cars and trucks passed by as I continued. "Humans bring the food, take the food, ship the food, they _drive_ the food, they _wear_ the food!"

* * *

In a different yard, I pointed to a grill. "That gets the food hot!"

To a cooler. "That keeps the food cold"

To a...hanging turtle toy? "That...I'm not sure what that is"

The humans whacked it with a stick and candy fell out. "Ahh!" Simon yelped. "What do you know, _Food!_". Simon was breathing hard. I set a hand on his shoulder. "Relax Simon, it wasn't real" he gave me a stunned look.

* * *

I pointed down to a kitchen table where people were praying. "That is the altar where they _worship food_!

* * *

"That is what they take when they eat _too_ much food!" I whispered, pointing to an add with dissolving pills.

* * *

"That gets rid of the guilt so they can eat _more_ food!" I exclaimed, pointing to a woman on a treadmill.

* * *

Each add had food, and there were food signs hanging up in the distance. I turned back to the group. "So, you think they have enough?" they all nodded simultaneously while Hammy had to think about it. Simon didn't nod, just continued to look at me with suspicion. I suppose he has a right. "Well, guess what? They don't. Having enough, is _never_ enough!" They all seemed to gasp while Simon just gave me a look. "And, what do they do with all the leftovers? They put them in _gleaming_, silver cans..." I said, while hopping down on one. "...just for us!". I kicked them all down and everything poured out. "Dig in!" I ended. Hopping down, I watched as they went through all the garbage. Mostly to make sure they didn't pick up anything that _wasn't_ food.

"Good, isn't it?". Some hummed in reply, others were too busy looking around. I walked back over to Simon who picked up a diaper. "Oh no, that you don't want to eat. It's a diaper; it _does_ come out of a wazoo" He wiped his paws on his fur. I followed in suit. To my left, Hammy had a can of spray cheese and was spraying it in his mouth. It all came out of his nose. I blinked for a second before shaking the disgust from my face. "Ok, so was I right, or was I right?" They all sort of looked up to me, like a child would to their mom. "And the best part? These are just the _scraps!_ Wait until you see what comes in the boxes, packages, the cans! I'm telling you folks, if you listen to me, you'll have enough food to feed...a bear!" They all froze and looked at me. "Figure of speech" I added.

From behind me, I heard a beep, and saw a cat hop out of the door. He saw us, and instantly went on guard. My hand instinctively went in front of Simon. "_Halt!_ Intruders! Intruders!" He screamed. His purple eyes were unnerving me. "Get out all of you!" He hissed. No sooner did the first human we saw tonight come out. She said something cute to her cat, then screamed when she saw us. I saw everyone but Simon go to lick their privates. "What are you doing?!" I shouted in fear. "Well, _you_ said to…" "wrong kind of person, RUN!" I screamed. The human had grabbed a broom and began to try and hit us. We scattered and I grabbed Simon's arm, pulling him along. He didn't complain.

When we arrived back in the woods, I took a minute to breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone was fine. I watched at the hedgehog parents checked on their three little ones, Ozzie check on his daughter, and Simon checked Hammy. 'What are they doing? Is that normal to do?' I thought. I didn't have time to think about it as Simon took this opportunity to push me back out again. "You guys see what I mean, this is what I was talking about!". He looked at me. "These humans _don't want us around!_" I was still catching my breath. When was the last time I ate again? "So we gave her a little scare and she overreacted. No biggie". Simon didn't like that. He took a step forward. "No biggie? Oh no, _that_ is what we call 'a biggie'!".

"Come on, it was worth it right? That food is to die for!" They all gasped, and Ozzie fell back in fake death. "Ok, not the right figure of speech. Let me rephrase that…" "No.." Simon cut in. "...to die for. Got _that_ right! Look, I know our forest life looks primitive to a girl like you, _with a bag_…" I shot him a nasty look as he judged my lifestyle. "...but I speak for the whole family when I say, we want _nothing_ to do with _anything_ that's over that hedge!" I hadn't realized how close he and his pointer finger had gotten until he was right in my face. I blinked when he backed down and tried to calm my suddenly racing heart. "Oh come on, you guys haven't even tried donuts yet!" I said, despite knowing I already lost. "Oh, ok, I'll just let you guys sleep on it. I'll check back with you". If anyone heard, they didn't care.

I sighed and dropped my facade. "Ahh, shoot Alvin!" I silently snapped. "Way to go, _real_ smooth!". I looked up at the moon to see it slightly over half. I couldn't stop the sad whine that left me. 'Might as well call it a night too'. I slouched as I grabbed my bag and climbed up an old oak. I pat my bag behind me when I heard voices coming from the log. They were all saying goodnight to each other. Something in me pressed on my chest and I suddenly wanted to cry. I blinked the tears back. I can't break down now, I have too much to worry about. Pulling out from my bag a piece of paper, I tried to use it as a blanket. I didn't have warm bodies to keep me warm, so this was the next best thing. Until a breeze took it off me. I sighed. "It's going to be a long night" I mumbled.

* * *

**Simon's POV**

I woke up this morning to another bright and sunny day. I was always an early riser, so I didn't wake anyone else up. Besides, we were up pretty late thanks to Alvin. I don't trust her. Not one bit. From the minute I heard her, my tail has done nothing but tingle. I don't understand why, she hasn't done anything of extreme horrors. Though I won't forget the close call we had with that one human last night. Then again, she couldn't have predicted that would happen, it was the middle of the night. I sighed and stepped out of the log. I couldn't see much of what was up close, but I could make out Alvin's body in the old oak nearby. 'Has she been there all night? That can't be comfortable'. She was blurry, but I could make out her moving around and her fearful face. 'A nightmare?' somehow that seems...odd for her. She doesn't seem afraid of much.

"You just get stranger and stranger, don't you?" I said to myself. I couldn't help the complete feeling of just wrong I got around her. She's up to something and I didn't like it. "I don't harm anyone, let alone girls, but if something happens to my family because of you, you won't get to beg for mercy" I mumbled to myself again. Then I went to go relieve myself.

* * *

**Alvin's POV**

It was still the middle of the night when I was jerked up. By my neck. "Times up Alvin" Marcus said, his red eyes boring into mine again. "What?! B..But I have six more d..days!" I choked out again. He laughed and leaned in. "Wait! Stop! DON'T!" I screamed. Then I jerked awake, trembling and shaking. I almost fell out of the tree, but caught myself at the last minute. My hand went to my neck, where the phantom pain of being choked was very much present. I struggled to feel air going into my lungs, but managed to calm down. "O..ok, just a d..dream Alvin...you're ok...you're ok…" I repeated to myself. I took a deep breath and let my head fall back against the fibery bark of the tree.

That's when I heard a squeaking noise. Letting my head fall to my right, I saw two humans pulling a red cart full of cookies. 'Red cart...A RED CART!'. I perked up, now motivated to get back to work, despite my clawing stomach. I checked my list of things I needed to get. It was a perfect fit. I looked back down to see everyone working. A pang of fear ran through me. 'Did any of them see me while I was sleeping?'. It didn't appear so, but the thought stuck with me. I looked to see Simon carrying some bark, Ozzie and his daughter pulling some off a tree, and Hammy on a large slab of bark. On another tree Lou, the father hedgehog had done a backflip and got bark on his back. 'That's what they're going to eat? Ok, I might be using them, but that is just horrible' I thought.

I watched as all the kids rejected it, saying they wanted human food. "I want chips!" "I want pizza!". A smile twitched on my lips. "So do I kids, so do I" I mumbled to myself again. I could see Brittany (I think her name was) collect leaves sadly. And I watched as Hammy carved out a triangle from the wood and put bee pollen on it in an attempt to mimic a chip. I hummed as an idea came to mind. Grabbing my bag, I hopped down. I watched as Simon took a bite of a piece of bark. "Ok" he said with a mouthful. "This is great" he continued, taking all the time in the world to chew it. "Granted, it takes some time to chew. But that? That was very satisfying" he said, his voice as if he was telling children. "By the way? Lots of fiber in there". I couldn't help my smile. He was kind of cute when he wasn't angry. 'Cute? Hold the phone Alvin. You already have relationship problems. Don't start to get attached to someone else' I thought.

Shaking the odd, tingling feeling I was getting, I decided to announce myself. Simon had taken another bite. "Lots" he finished. I huffed and made sure I sounded presentable. "Got to admit…" I started, flipping my wavy hair in a high ponytail. Only, I couldn't stop the one small piece from falling over my eye. "...that does look tasty". Simon 'slyly' spit out the bark from his mouth. "What are you still doing here?" he questioned, genuinely shocked I was still here. Probably thought I'd leave after last night. 'Sorry pal, I need you guys still'. "I'm here to help you with your...foraging thing" I told him. His paws stayed on his hips, along with the suspicious look. We both knew I was lying, but I kept up the face that I wasn't. "Look Simon, you said something yesterday. About your gang here; started with an F, do you remember what it was?" Truth is, I did forget. I knew what it meant. Or what it was supposed to, but I don't use the term at all. I haven't most of my life.

"Family?" He asked, as if I was really dumb enough not to know. "Right, that. You know, that hit me right here" I said, placing my paw over my heart. This wasn't a complete lie, but I can't tell them the truth. They would throw me and my 'problem' back on the street. "You see Simon, I...used to have all that. My own tree, surrounded by loved ones. But...that all went away with...the _weed hacker_ incident" I said, putting my acting skills to the test. This was a lie, but the pain of my situation was real. I faked a chill. And made my bottom lip quiver. Tears came surprisingly easy considering I have never forced myself to cry before. I covered my eyes.

"Oh...oh come here!" Hammy said. His arms wrapped around my middle, and it took me a second to recover. 'What is this? What is he doing?'. I blinked and slowly pat his head and back, not entirely sure what I was supposed to do. "Good grief" Simon said, not buying it for a second. Oh, he's good. "Geepers Simon!" Penny snapped at Simon. "We could always use the extra hand" Lou added. "The weed hacker Simon, the _weed hacker!_" Hammy whispered I wiped a tear from my eye. And sighed. I pulled out that feeling of utter defeat I felt last night and used all of my acting skills. I took Hammy's arms off my middle and ruffled his head. "No, it's ok. I know when I'm not wanted" I used my arm to wipe another tear. "I'll just go".

I slouched as I walked away slowly. "It's fine, I get it. Not everyone is nice. Hey *sniff* maybe I'll see you around the forest" I continued over to my bag. Right as I was about to grab it, I heard Simon. "Hey Alvin, wait…" I stopped to hear if this was a victory or not. "...ok, you can stay". I know I was faking it. I know that when they find out what I'm doing, I'll be on my own again. But to hear someone say that to me, that I can stay? Something in me moved. The fact Simon had all but cast me as a villain and is still letting me stay opened something in me I hadn't felt in years: joy. I froze, not expecting the giddy emotion. "What, really?" I asked, genuinely shocked. He looked like he didn't like it, but he nodded. I hadn't expected to feel joy at the announcement; so when I squealed and did the same thing Hammy did with me, throwing my arms around him, I instantly jumped back.

"Um, ahem, sorry" I mumbled, blushing with embarrassment. He looked just as stunned at my outburst that I did, but his glare had softened. To try and cover up my embarrassment, I lightly punched his shoulder. "That's for being stubborn; say, can I work with Hammy?" Simon's look changed from a sort of straight face to disbelief and a hint of a smile. Hammy walked up to me at the sound of his name. Wiping any remains of tears from my eyes and face, I put my paw on his back and walked him away from the group. "Yes! Say, do you want to help me find my nuts?!" He sped excitedly. "Very tempting Hammy, _very_ tempting. But first, I want to show you _this_!" I said, pulling out an old cookie I found in my bag. It had for sure gone bad, but I wasn't going to give it to him.

Hammy sniffed it and had a look of pure ecstasy on his face. "Do you want this cookie? Do you? Junk!" I said, throwing it over the hedge. Hammy looked heartbroken. "...but I like the cookie…" he mumbled. "Easy, easy. I know a place where you can get more. Ones so valuable that they're hand delivered by uniformed officers" I whispered. That sad look was gone. Taking him through the hedge and into a nearby tree, I pointed out the girl scouts with the red cart full of cookies. "There they are! America's most covenant cookies! Love Handles, Skinny Mints, Neener Neeners, and Smack-o-roons!" I said, voice rising in volume. I should really get an Oscar for acting. "And guess what? They're all yours!" I told Hammy. He rubbed his hands and lunged at them. I was quick to grab his tail.

"Hey! Whoa Hamilton, hold on their fella. I love the energy, but you just can't take them" I said excitedly. "But you just said their mine!" he whined. "Yes, they _will_ be _if_ we succeed in marrying your energy to my plan! With me kid?" I snapped quickly. "I..I..I..I..I.." "The 'I's have it!" I said. "Come on, let's ride!" I whispered, grabbing my bag and pulling us down the tree. I hid us under a car across the street from the girls. I motioned for Hammy to follow, but he sounded like he was picking a fight. "Hey, you stay away from those cookies. They're mine!" He said to his reflection. I knocked on the silver bumper. "Ahem!" I said. "Hey, this guy's not coming is he? Cause I don't want him too!" He said fearfully. I slapped a hand on my head. "Oh I have so much work to do" I mumbled. "Come here, step into my office" I started.

"Look, what I'm looking for here is a _vicious_, rabid, man-eating squirrel!" I said, posing in a scary 'about to claw you' pose. He raised his hand. "Um, excuse me!" I played along, acting like I had other students. I looked around until I pointed at him. "Yes...Hammy!". "Um, rabbits aren't vicious. They're all cute and cuddly". I sighed. "Rab_id_ not rabb_it_" I told him slowly. "Ooohh...what?". I sighed and just got to work on giving him a makeover. "Ok, first we'll ruffle the fur" I said, messing up all the fur on his body. I messed up his hair and I spit in my hand to keep his fur in place. I messed up his tail and his stripe. "Ok you're done. Now, show me that wild look in your eye!" I snapped playfully. He really did look deranged. "Oh! Oh! I can burp my ABCs!" He began burping his ABCs. I began regretting this.

"Hammy!" I snapped, grabbing his shoulders. "I just really need you to focus, ok?!" I said, trying to keep my patience. He nodded and I calmed myself. "Ok, now all we're missing is one thing.." I mumbled, looking through my bag for the near empty can of whipped cream I took from last night. I threw a few things out, including my boomerang until I found it. Bad idea as it came back and hit Hammy on the back. He seemed ok though.

* * *

**Simon's POV**

I was beginning to get worried about Hammy. Alvin took him a while ago and they weren't back. The tingling in my tail was slowly starting to rise up again. When Alvin put on the 'show' of guilt tripping us, it went down. I don't understand how, but she somehow managed to lie while using genuine emotion. Those tears were real. From what, I don't know, but it wasn't from a '_weed hacker_'. And when I told her she could stay, she seemed genuinely shocked and happy. She threw herself around me in a hug because of it. Now, I'm not a hugger. I hate hugs, they make me uncomfortable. But somehow I didn't mind the few seconds she hugged me, no matter how much my tail had tingled from her lying.

Something else was going on, and she was deeply affected by it. I'm not saying whatever actions she does are justified, but if something bad really did happen to her, I'm going to find out what it is. She's involving my family, and I'm not comfortable with it. Heck, she didn't even know the word family! 'Ok Simon, put your mixed feelings aside. Right now you need to find them'. Everyone else was sitting around, napping. I got up and went to the hedge. I paused, getting grim reminders from last night, but slowly made my way out. I have to admit; this _is_ a lot scarier without Alvin to guide me. I'll give her that much. I tip-toed out and quietly called out for either of them. Not being able to see well has its downfalls.

* * *

**Alvin's POV**

I sprayed the last of the whipped cream around Hammy's mouth. I laughed as he looked perfect. "Done! Now, I'll be right here" he hesitated. "Go on, shoo! Get out there". I heard him 'growl'. "Grr, I'm a crazy rabid squirrel! I WANT MY COOKIES!" He screamed, running over there and acting like a maniac. 'Yes, I knew being patient would pay off!' I thought. I watched as he scared the girls. But he seemed to not know the basic rules of battle: Never turn your back on your enemies! "Hammy! Behind you!". "Yeah! I know you're behind m…" Oof! That looked like it hurt. One of the girls slammed the book on him. They bean spraying him with something. Or trying to. "Walk it off! Walk it off! No pain, no gain!" I called out.

"What is going on?!" I heard behind me. How? Simon was here somehow. 'Wow, braver than I originally thought'. "Wait, is that Hammy?!" Simon was about to run out there, but I caught his arm. "Hammy's fine! Just, head back to the hedge" I tried. Hammy might be young, but he can see. If Simon went out there, he would be a dead munk. "You call _THAT_ under control?! He's being attacked!" he all but yelled in my face. "He's working!" I yelled back. "Oh no, I'm coming Hammy!" he shouted, shoving past me. But he seemed to miss the car coming at him. "Simon, LOOK OUT!" I screamed, running after him. He was too far to pull back, so I tackled him down and let the car pass over us. Thankfully it was the only one nearby.

Pulling him up, I ran us over to where Hammy was with the humans. I squared Simon's shoulders up and set him next to a mailbox. "Stay here, you'd get hurt if you fought without seeing right". Because I'm a sentimental chipmunk, I ran and joined in the fight. I hopped on one of the girls heads and pulled her hair. She screamed and tried to hit me. The other girl grabbed her book and tried to aim. I didn't see it soon enough and was whacked off into the cart. But I wasn't the only one who was hit. The girl I was on top of received half of the blow. I took a page out of Ozzie's book and pretended to be dead on the cart. Thankfully that scared them off.

The minute they were gone, Hammy dove into a box of cookies. I slid down until my feet hit the green grass and hissed as my leg stung. I almost fell, but Simon had caught my arms. "Are...are you ok?" he asked warily. Truthfully that blow might have fractured my leg. But I couldn't let him think that or he wouldn't let us continue collecting food. "Yeah, I'm fine. Not one of my better plans charging right in, but it worked". He didn't buy it. "I might not be able to see, but I heard you hiss". I grabbed onto the cart and took my weight off him. "I just landed wrong. Come on, we've got to go". I said pulling him along. I struggled to hide my limp, but we rolled the cart back into the hedge. When we were safe, I handed Simon a cookie. He looked at it funny.

"Hammy, you were awesome! You had _me_ scared! I was about to come out and beat you with a book myself! You're ok, aren't you?" He didn't reply, too busy stuffing his face full of cookies. I took that as a yes. I was going to push the cart back to the log, but Simon grabbed my arm. "What?" He crossed his arms. "You're _limping_" he said. I rolled my eyes. "I _landed_ wrong. Nothing else". "Alvin…" "I'm fine Simon. You might just be seeing things wrong" he had nothing to say to that. I continued pushing the car to the log, hiding the pain in my leg. I determined it was sprained, but otherwise ok. Me and Hammy began handing out the cookies. Penny really liked them. "Geepers that's good! Kids eat up! Anything that tastes this good, _has_ to be good for you!" I smiled. Too much of it would, but these animals live off the scraps of the woods. So I consider it true.

"Hey, you feel that buzz in the back of your skull?" Everyone nodded, an energetic craze in their eyes. "Yeah, that's called a sugar rush. It's what keeps the humans going. That's why they don't hibernate! Top that off with some of this…" I said, popping open a can of soda I found in the cart "...and what would normally take you all summer, will take you only a week!" I announced. That's when I saw Hammy opening an energy drink. "Oh no! No you don't Hammy. The _last_ thing you need is caffine" I said to him. I took a sip of the open can, deciding I need _something_ in my system before handing it to Lou. "Yeah, dig in everyone. Because this is _just _the beginning!"

I saw Simon still giving me a suspicious and worried look. It was very calculating. Pulling out an oatmeal and raisin cookie, I hopped over to him. "Here. You don't seem like a huge fan of all the other stuff. This one has nuts and fruit in it". His look didn't drop, but he took the cookie and sniffed it. I smiled and hopped off.

* * *

The week seemed to fly by as I got to know everyone. We scavenged during the day, during the night, whenever an opportunity presented itself. Simon didn't partake in another 'mission', focusing more on all the natural food growing around. I didn't blame him. Sometimes all the treats can be..._too_ sweet. But, we've collected a lot more than just food. We've gathered games, toys, and stuff none of us even knew what was for. We were collecting all the stuff on my list, and more! I was even teaching some of the group to sing! They all say I have a magical voice, but I never thought so. Heather, Ozzie's daughter, seemed to like the music player we got. I had to admit, I liked that one too. My sprained leg also seemed to have healed completely. That was a shock. It was a week I've never had. One where I wasn't scared for my life. I felt open and...free? I forgot a few times that I need to take all the food at the end of the week. The thought of it now made me sick.

We even got a camera! I took a lot of pictures. But while my bond with the group grew, Simon seemed resistant. We've had moments where I thought we were ok, but he seemed to avoid me most of the time. It made me really upset. So, in any of my spare time, I've been out and building something special for him. I have absolutely no idea why it was so important to me to gain his approval, but I didn't question it. Today happened to be the last day of the week. Meaning tomorrow was the day I had to go. Thinking about it felt like rocks were being piled in my stomach. Yet I had to do it. Looking in the tree, I saw a car with a blue cooler on it. It was a must have on my list, so I jumped down and called on the group.

Simon seemed uninterested until I put Ozzie's acting skills to use. I saw him peeking through the bushes, a look of horror on his face. I tried to get his attention and tell him he was faking it, but I couldn't. So I continued with the plan. We all got on the roof of the car when one of them came towards us. Ozzie looked at me. It took me a millisecond to improvise. I put a hand on my head and made a dramatic pose. He got the message. "Lights fading! Limbs growing cold!" he started. I smiled. He was almost as good of an actor as me. _Almost_. I looked at Simon and he rolled his eyes. I stifled a giggle. Then he came out and began scolding us. "I'm telling you, you went too far this time!" he snapped at me. "Let's just get out and leave this!".

I hopped down and moved him out of the way as the cooler was pushed off the car. He jumped, not expecting it. "You're dangerous! Insane I tell you!" He continued to snap. Everyone soon hopped down and picked up the cooler. I began to help while Simon just stood there, sort of gobsmacked. That's when we hit the curb, and everything fell out. "Guys!" Simon snapped again. "Hey Simon! Now really isn't the time for a lecture! Want us out of here? Then move your furry tail and help us!" I snapped back. Seriously, he tells us how dangerous this is, yet puts us in more danger by stopping for a lecture. "Oh-ho no, you did _not_ just say that!" He looked about ready to stomp over and give me a piece of his mind when a car screeched around the corner.

As it zoomed closer, I saw the hammer on top whacking a bunny and realized what it was. "Simon! Get over here now!" I called out to him. He was too busy trying to see what it was. I abandoned the group and ran over to him, pulling him under the car. The car stopped right in front of Ozzie and the group. "Alvin, I can't see it. What is it?" I watched, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. My fears were correct. "It's an exterminator" I whispered. He grabbed my shoulder and jerked me. "A WHAT?!" He whispered/snapped. I shushed him and gestured to the group to go. They didn't wait a second. Simon tried to tell them to leave it, but they didn't listen.

I pulled on his arm. "Come on, we need to go" I whispered. "No! I am _not_ leaving Ozzie!" he snapped back. "He'll be fine, I promise!" I told him, tugging his arm. He yanked me back. "_No!_ I am not leaving until he's safe! And neither are _you_!" he said. A snap drew me and Simon's attention to Ozzie on the road. The exterminator had pulled out a sort of sharp tool and was about to grab him with it. I looked at Simon. "Fine! Ozzie!" I called. His eye snapped open and looked at me. I pat my arm twice, tapped my forehead, pointed at my eyes, then at my nose and mouth. He winked at his secret code. That's when he shot up and ran right into the hedge. Simon blinked. "Do you really think I would send one of you guys out without an emergency plan in case something went wrong?!" I asked him softly.

He opened his mouth to reply, but didn't say anything. Not sure if he could. Before either of us could say anything, I shot my arm out and hid us behind a wheel. The heavy boots of the exterminator landed right in front of us. He spoke in his human language and sniffed. I pulled Simon away, realizing this guy was tracking us. We both ran back through the hedge, safe. I could hear the chatter of the group before looking at them. They were all praising Ozzie for his performance. "You were awesome out there Ozzie! You had them on their feet!" I complimented. Heather even complimented him on his skill, even though she wasn't a fan of how dramatic he was. Theodore, Eleanor and Jeanette, Penny and Lou's kids gave him 'props' as they call it.

"Thanks, but let's give some credit to our brilliant leader, Alvin" Ozzie said. A pang of something ran through my chest when he said that. I got really shy. "Me? Oh no, we..we couldn't have pulled that off without you. Credit's all yours" I said, rubbing my shoulder. "Now, now, it was your idea. Come on!" Penny said. They all clapped for me and Hammy did that thing where he wrapped his arms around me. I blinked in the strange feeling of happiness...but that feeling soon turned sour as I remember what I've been doing to them. I slowly pulled Hammy's arms off me. "Th..thanks" I said.

I turned back to see Simon, a sort of hurt look on his face. That's when I remembered what I had made for him. "Hey Simon?" I called out before he turned to leave. He looked at me with a 'what?!' sort of look. "Stay there, I've got something for you". Throughout the week, at night when I woke up from nightmares, I concentrated on making him these. I asked him a few times during the week about how bad his vision was, so I could make these as accurate as I could. Walking over to my bag, I pulled out a small, chipmunk sized pair of glasses. I hid them behind my back as I ran up to him. He still looked mad at me. Pulling them in front of me, I uncurled them and set them on his face. He blinked madly and looked at me. _Really_ looked at me.

"Now, I don't know how well these work, but hopefully they help" I said stepping back. I watched as he looked around. "Geepers, what are those?" Penny asked. "Well, h..humans use them when they stare at a screen for too long. I thought...they might help him see if I got them right, so…" "Wait, you mean they'll help him see?" Heather asked. I rubbed my shoulder. "That's the idea. So, how well do they work?" I asked, turning to said chipmunk. He didn't reply, still looking. I took another step closer. "Simon?" His eyes snapped back at me. "How...how did you…" I rolled my eyes and held up four fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked. He didn't squint. He didn't lean forward. His eyes looked to my paw and he said softly "...four…" I smiled. "Well, I say they work for the most part" I commented back at the group.

Simon just continued to look at me, dumbfounded. Everyone cheered and did that thing where they wrapped their arms around Simon. I didn't join. "Oh, speaking of surprised, follow us Alvin! We wanna show you something!" Heather said. "Oh, uh, ok" I said nervously. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but every surprise I got so far in my life have been bad. I looked at Simon, hoping he would come. He didn't follow. My heart dropped. I hoped those glasses would have at least made him smile. They all walked me one way as I tried to ignore the feeling of rejection.

Theodore had grabbed my hand and was dragging me over to the area. I noticed one of them had grabbed my bag. That's when I saw an area with a bunch of goods. "Check it out! Your new home!" Brittany said. I looked at the banners hanging down from the trees. There was a T.V. somewhat hooked up, and there was a 'Welcome Home' sign. I stared in awe. "And look! We've got a place for you! Right here!" Hammy said, patting a red car seat with a container of popcorn next to it. "That...that's for me?" He nodded as I slowly came and sat down. "Is this anything like you had Alvin?" Lou asked. I blinked back tears of shock and awe. "This...isn't anything like I've had Lou" I said honestly. I gave them all a shy smile. "Here…" Hammy said, cracking open a can of soda. "...I'm not really supposed to drink this" he handed it to me. "Oh...th..thank you" I said quietly.

I saw Ozzie and Heather sitting on my bag. I pretended I didn't know they brought it. "You brought my bag?"

"Yeah, so you wouldn't have to sleep in that old tree anymore"

My arms fell and my heart warmed. I have never felt like this in my life before. Warm all over, and like there was nothing that could harm me. "You all did this...for me?" I breathed. They nodded.

"Hey Alvin!" Theodore started. "Look, we totally hooked up the T.V!"

"I hot wired the HC converter!" Jeanette added.

"We get like a thousand channels!" Eleanor added.

I gave them a warm smile. I felt all warm and I didn't know why. "Here, can you take the remote before my dad does?" Heather said. I huffed and blinked more tears from my eyes. "A Universal Remote? This...this is nice guys. Thank you" I said softly. I turned on the T.V. to see what was on.

"_We now return to "A Scoundrel Among Us"_

A sharp stab of guilt zipped through me.

"_You should be ashamed of yourself! We let you into our family and you betrayed us!_" a female voice said.

I changed the channel.

"_I gave you my heart and you ripped it into a million pieces_" a male voice said.

I changed it again.

"_Get real Kevin! Because when you feel like a dirt bag, it's because you _are_ a dirtbag! So just own it! Say it out loud: "I am a dirt bag"_"

I mouthed the words with the guy on T.V. Yep, my high, warm mood was completely overtaken by guilt.

"Dirtbag? Now, I don't think that guy's a real doctor" Lou said. I huffed. "What do you think there Alvin?". I shrugged. "Look, guys, why don't you pick something out. I...I have to go relieve myself" I said, coming up with an excuse to leave. My guilt was beginning to suffocate me. They stayed there and went through some channels. When I was out of earshot, I grabbed a nearby, empty chip bag and began trying to breathe. "Ok Alvin, breathe! Just breathe! Whoa, stupid, what are you doing?! You are getting in way too deep!". I gave a frustrated sigh, and whacked the nearest tree. I only ended up giving myself a bruise.

"Ok Alvin, just get the food, feed the lunatic! Get the food, feed the lunatic!" I chanted, walking to the log. "Ah!" I almost screamed. The log was empty. "WHERE'S THE FOOD?!" I did scream. It took me a second before I heard the squealing of the cart beyond the hedge. I burst through the foliage to see Simon taking the loaded cart out into the open. "No…" I said. I ran up to him. "Simon, what are you doing?!" I snapped. He flinched, and visibly sighed. "Look Alvin. It's...not natural the way you're doing things. I'm returning things back to the way they were" he said. I groaned. "Simon...you know what, fine! If you want things to go back the way they were, then I'll leave!" I snapped. It hurt, doing this. It really did, but I can't stay any longer or I'll end up really hurting someone.

"Good. You can leave while I return the food" he said. His dismissal of me hurt worse than anything Marcus could do to me. "What!? Why?!" I asked him, so confused. "Because we've angered the humans!" he said, pointing to the exterminator's car. Right, he can see that now. "I'm giving it back so, They. Won't. Kill. Us!" he snapped. "Uh-uh, no! If I leave, this food is coming with me!" I yelled at him, pulling the cart back. He pulled it his way.

"Simon! You don't understand! We need this stuff!"

"No we _don't!_"

"Simon I'm serious, you can't take it!"

"Yes I can!"

"Let go!"

"_You_ let go!"

"You don't understand, I _have_ to have it!"

"No!" he ended, pulling it from my paws.

I fell on my face and saw what looked like a screw with a triangle on top. It had a chain connected to it. Following the chain, it led to a dog house. I gasped. Hearing the squealing of the cart, I ran over to Simon to try and get him to come back. This wasn't about me anymore. If we didn't leave soon, we'd both be turned into chew toys. "Simon! Move slow and keep your voice down! Follow me" I said, running to the front of the cart and turning it around. "What?" he said rather loudly. I shushed him and continued. Simon grabbed the handle and shoved me back. "Oh no you don't!" He half shouted. I shushed him even louder this time. "No! I'm _not_ going to be quiet! I'm not falling for anymore of your _smooth talk_!" He shouted. I snapped a paw over his mouth, constantly looking at the dog house, sure any moment that dog with come out.

"Simon I am _not_ kidding!" I snapped quietly at him. 'Simon please, you can blow up on me later, but right now just please be quiet!' I thought desperately. He all but threw my paw off, pinning both my arms at my sides. "No! I don't know what you're up to, but my entire body is tingling, and you know what? I'm listening to it this time and I am putting my foot down!" he said, stepping. Sadly, he stepped right on a squeaky toy. The dog emerged like a flash. "Play?" it said dumbly. I threw his arms off mine and tried to run. But I stepped on one too. "PLAY!" It screamed. "Play, play, play, play!" he continued. It ran after Simon first. I wasn't going to allow that. Grabbing the one I stepped on, I led it in one direction. "Hey! Over here!" I shouted, squeaking the toy.

"ALVIN!" Simon shouted in fear. "Get the food and Go!" I shouted back, dog hot on my tail. I ran as fast as I could, but I wasn't a match for an animal over three times my size. It swiped at me, throwing me into a grill. I couldn't help the scream that came out. I fell to the ground and tried to get up. That had knocked the wind out of me. The dog slammed into the grill not three seconds later, and I continued to run. "Whoa!" I heard behind me. It seemed like Simon had gotten caught on the chain dragging behind the dog. "Whoa! Down boy!" I shouted behind me. I ran around the food cart as fast as my paws would take me. "Play dead!" I tried, but this dog seemed untrained. Just. My. Luck. I began to hear a squealing noise and saw Simon on top of the cart, which the dog was also dragging.

"Simon! AH! Save to food, I'll lose the dog!" I shouted behind me. I had no idea what was going on behind me since I was concentrating on running, but I heard a lot of smashing, screaming, and squealing. I saw food flying in front of me and made an effort to throw it back. "Simon, you're dropping all the food!". That's when I saw the guy with his grill up ahead. "Hey boy, you hungry? Cause look! Food!". It didn't work. We rounded a corner. "Look! People! Go play with them!" That didn't work either. I hopped another fence and heard another crash behind me. That's when a new noise appeared and the cart began to fly ahead of me. When I saw the flaming gas tank, I instantly knew why. "Simon! Unhook the chain!". The dog would be hurt if not, and I didn't need that guilt on my shoulders too.

That's when something wrapped around my waist and I was flying above the ground, fence after fence passing by. Least to say I got a few splinters. That's when I saw the can of Spuddies coming at me. I made the effort of grabbing them. That's when a ramp in the form of a slide appeared ahead of us. I tensed as we were suddenly flying through the air. I clung to the chain as we got higher and higher. We flew over a plane for pete's sake! But that was the same time we began falling. "Simon, I told you to unhook the chain!" I cursed. That's when I saw him catch an umbrella that had unfurled. I caught it too, sliding down in front of him. I couldn't stop the trembling my arms and legs were doing. I had used too much energy running and holding on for dear life.

That's when I noticed chips falling around us. Looking at the Spuddies, the top had come off. I let go of the empty container and just held on, still shaking from adrenaline, fear, and just plain excitement. I watched as the food fell, every foot a second of my life lost until it fell onto the same black car I've seen outside the hedge for the past few weeks. It blew up, sending flaming balls up at us. Three went through the top of the umbrella, leaving burning holes. Both of us gasped and began blowing in hopes the fire went out. It only got worse.

Simon looked at me and said three words: "You're the devil".

I looked at him and never felt more hate for someone in my life. "I hate you" I said right before we fell. "AHH!" we both screamed. We fell through the trees, me gaining a chipped ear and new bruises. All the air was forced out of me as I hit the ground. I almost blacked out. Seconds later, a dented and burnt red cart fell in front of me, along with the soot covered cooler. Grabbing my stomach in pain, I looked at what had survived. I wanted to cry, but didn't. I wanted to scream, but didn't. I wanted to just die right then and there, but knew I couldn't. I knew it was karma, for lying to everyone, but I didn't process it. Brittany and Heather helped me up while Lou and Ozzie helped Simon. "It's gone. All of it. All the food" I said in a raspy voice. Despite all the pain I was feeling, I didn't shed a single tear.

"Gone?" Heather spoke in shock.

"What? How?" Brittany exclaimed.

All the hate in my heart came back to me and I took in a painful and shaky breath. "_Ask. Him_" I said with as much venom in my voice as I could, pointing at Simon. And what was funny was that he had the gull to defend his case. "I...returned it to its rightful place". Looking at him, he seemed perfectly fine from the fall. Oh, this was too much. Lou and Ozzie visibly repulsed back. "What?!" they both exclaimed. "We like, worked our tails off, you know? Like a lot! And the food we gathered was like...you know! And you? You're a...whatever!" Heather said, letting go of my arm. I tried to sit up, but I winced at the pain in my stomach. Yep, not well enough yet. I didn't keep my eyes off the dented cart and cooler.

"Yeah Simon! What were you thinking? The log was full!"

"Full of junk!"

"What, so are you saying the food we gathered _our_ way isn't as good as the food we gathered _your_ way?" Lou argued.

"Your way? You mean _her_ way. Can't you just see Alvin's using you?!" My guilt came back with a fury. It masked my hate, almost to a tee. "Simon! Shame on you, Alvin wouldn't do that!" It was then that it hit me the severity of how much they trusted me. They were nice to me, let me into their home, and trusted me over their own. And what was I planning? To use them and leave. 'My god Alvin, you're no better than Marcus'. I openly sobbed at the realization. I covered my eyes and silently cried. "You have got to trust me on this! Don't you understand that something's wrong with this girl?!" I grabbed onto the red cart, so I wouldn't fall. I tore them apart. _I_ did! How did I let this happen?

"My tail tingles every time I'm near her!" He continued. Brittany spoke in my defense. I didn't deserve it. "So we're supposed to go hungry because your butt is vibrating? I'm starting to think that tingle of yours is just _you_ being _jealous_!" She argued. Jealous? Of me? What is there to be jealous of, I'm a nobody who used them. Maybe I deserve Marcus' punishment. "Jealous? Of her?" Simon repeated. "Yeah! We're embracing the future, and you're here holding us back". That part didn't help or hurt me. One way or another they would have encountered humans. I at least gave them that. I didn't take satisfaction from knowing that, though. "Oh, I hold you back alright. From extinction!" I looked back at him. "You see what you've done here? If they listen to half the stuff _you_ say, they'll be dead within a week!"

I didn't argue back, all fight in me gone. I was ready to accept punishment, whoever it would come from. "You are only interested in taking advantage of them because they're too _stupid_ and _naive_ to know any better!". I looked back at him. Everyone seemed to freeze at his words. Simon seemed to realize what he said after he said it. He looked at Hammy who was giving him kicked puppy eyes. I wanted to say he was right. To come out and tell him he wasn't wrong, but I just...couldn't. The thought hurt too much. And it seemed as Simon had just dug himself in a deeper hole. "I'm not stupid…" Hammy said quietly. "Ok, uh, I didn't mean it like...I meant ignorant" he tried. That hole got deeper. This brought me more guilt as, none of this would have happened had I not showed up.

I blinked back a wave of nausea. From my stomach or my emotions, I didn't know. "...to the ways over there" he tried to save. It didn't work, the damage was done. "Come on guys you know I didn't mean it like that". But everyone was walking away. "Don't, don't do this. Brittany...Ozzie! Hammy…" he called, trying to make it up. "...you know I didn't…" Hammy pushed away from him. "I'm not stupid" he said again. He walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I looked at Simon, who had this look of regret and heartbreak. I knew the feeling, to the dot. I wanted to say something, but Hammy grabbed my arm and was pulling me away. I stumbled along, still hurting from the fall. My ear was bleeding pretty badly too. I looked back at him as we walked away to see Simon lightly hitting his head while walking away.

* * *

**Simon's POV**

I didn't mean what I said. At all. Not to my family at least. I've been...just so confused about Alvin. My gut tells me she's no good, my heart tells me she's sweet and strong-willed, and my brain tells me she's done nothing horrible. It all came out so wrong, and I can't take any of it back. Alvin giving me these...glasses that helped me see was the trigger. Seeing up close for the first time was breath-taking. Seeing _her_ up close was stunning too, but my gut was telling me it was all wrong. She looked so hopeful for something when giving me them. Then when we were on that umbrella thing, she looked so scared and heartbroken. I was all jumbled and now I've lost my family. I walked over to the camera and saw some pictures of us all. In all of them I was in, I never smiled at Alvin. It looked like I hated her guts.

'Have I been that...that selfish?' my tail had never been wrong before, but she's got everyone against me. Yet she also seemed...guilty. We both know she's hiding something, yet I have no proof. 'Maybe Brittany's right. Maybe it_ is_ just jealousy'. I would throw that out the window if she hadn't taken my place, and she hadn't looked so hopeful to try and please me. I gave a frustrated groan and rubbed my face, going under my glasses. Alvin complicates things. _She's_ complicated. 'But, you're at fault too. She gave you sight, something you've always _dreamed_ about! And then in return you go and destroy the past week of work she's done'. I didn't know what was going on with her. But she was guilty, like she discovered something this week. Maybe whatever she was planning wasn't her choice?

I walked through the log, seeing no one there. Only a single, measly grape I found the other day. I didn't eat it. I couldn't stomach food right now. I looked at the sky to see a full moon out. A bittersweet sight. "Well, there's only one way to find out what she was up too" I said to myself. I was about to fall asleep when I saw her emerge sadly from the hedge. She had her bag and pulled some sort of cloth out. Slowly sitting on a rock, she pressed it to her ear, which was still bloody from our fall. 'I did that?' I thought sadly. She looked up at the sky, looking very much sad, and absolutely stunning. She pulled out a piece of paper. Then crumpled it up and tossed it in front of her. She held the cloth to her ear again, and I realized it was the same one she used on me the day we met.

"I shouldn't have taken all that food" I started, not loud enough to startle her. She looked at me, but didn't look scared. Just guilty. "What?" she said in disbelief. I repeated, a little louder and a little more sure of myself. "I just was trying to return things to the way they were. I was just being cautious. Because that's what I am. I'm naturally tentative" I admitted. She blinked, looking unsure as where I was going. "You on the other hand, are cool and crazy and fearless" I complimented. If she could blush, I think she would be. I sat down next to her. "They're probably right, I'm probably just...jealous" I admitted defeatedly. I looked at her ear, the white cloth held to it. "May I?" I asked.

She hinted at a smile and handed me the wet cloth. I began gently wiping off any dried blood from her ear. I could see now the small nick that had been made. Her ear wouldn't heal together from a cut like this. "Believe me Simon. I'm...not someone to be jealous of. Nowhere _near _someone to be jealous of" She replied softly. "You...you've got a good thing here. You're just trying to do what's best for your family" She said. Her brown eyes looked soft and dark in the night. Not dark enough to look black, but just enough to look a soft brown. She truly was just gorgeous. "Maybe, but...I think you're what's best for them now" She seemed a bit shocked I just admit that to her. I'll admit, I was too. "And, what about your tail?" she said, a small hint of humor in there. "My head says listen to my tail, my tail says listen to my head, and I just...I just end up with an upset stomach" I said honestly, still cleaning her ear.

"That's why you need to be in charge now" I continued sadly. I followed the old way because it was safe and it worked. We can't do that now, and I don't know how to help anymore. Alvin hesitated before taking my hand off her ear. "You...don't really know what's going on here, Simon" she admitted. I blinked, wondering if she meant that like I thought. "But _you_ do Alvin! So, what's the problem?" I said to her, seeing if she was trying to tell me something. She looked at me, vulnerable and scared.

"This. _This_ is the problem she said" handing me her crumpled up piece of paper. I uncurled it. There were pictures and drawings of everything she had. Each with a red check mark by them. "Alvin, what is this?" I asked. She didn't answer, so I tore my gaze from the paper to look at her. She was rubbing her arm uncomfortably and keeping her head down. "If...if I tell you Simon, can you listen and wait until I'm finished before judging or yelling or...whatever you're going to do?" She asked. I blinked, curious about where this was going. I didn't want to scare her, so I just nodded.

She took a shuddering breath. "First off, I want you to know you haven't been crazy. Your gut has had a right to tell you I'm not good being here". I set her paper down and faced her. "Why's that?" I said, gaining back some of my earlier wariness. "You and me are a lot alike in the sense that we're...cautious. My whole life...no one has ever treated me with any kindness. My parents could care more about a squashed ant then me. The...the first chance they got to hand me away, they did. Who knows how much older the guy is than me, but all they said the day they left was that I was supposed to become mates with this guy and have lots of kids. Of course I haven't, the guy's a lazy lunatic" I didn't know what to say to that, so I just kept listening.

"His name is Marcus, and he's a slob. When we first met, he did his share of work. But when I stayed with him, I suddenly had to do all the work. He got tired of forest food, and began making me go out and get human food". That explains how she knows so much about humans. How this fit in with us, I had no idea, but I said I'd let her talk before I jumped to conclusions. "Why did you listen to him?" I asked. She had a particularly hard time answering this. "Well...he would...he would normally...hurt me" she whispered. My mouth fell. My tail wasn't tingling, so I knew she wasn't lying. "So, I had no choice _but_ to listen. Over the seasons, my resentment grew, and a week ago, I tried to get back at him for it. I collected all the food, and got mad that I put in the work and didn't get fed for it. I gathered up all the food _I _had caught and tried to take it and leave while he was still hibernating. He woke up though" This had my stomach dropping.

"He...caught me trying to take the food, and was going to make me pay for it. That's when I accidentally knocked it into a road where a large car hit it and destroyed it all". I could visibly see her shaking as she recalled it. "No sooner did that happen, did he...corner me a..and almost...he almost killed me. I promised him I would get it all back. He gave me a week. If I didn't…." she broke down crying. Not the fake crying she did to guilt trip me. The crying of a desperate, traumatized girl who was scared for her life. Suddenly the past week of resentment disappeared and I pulled her into a hug. She tried to stop crying a few times, but failed. I hushed her and did my best to calm her. "I didn't mean to ruin your family. I thought you guys weren't different. I...I was just…" "Scared" I finished. It made sense. She's not a bad person. She was driven to a point, raised on horrible beliefs, and made a mistake.

I began to shush her. Any anger or hate I felt was long gone. She was alone and tortured most of her life, and she didn't know better. "I didn't know what was happening, but soon I got attached, and it was too late to do anything about it" she sobbed. She was torn between life and the right thing. And I doomed her because I was acting like a jerk. "Shh, it's ok Alvin, it's ok". "I don't know what to do anymore…" she whined. I calmed her down after awhile. She wiped her eyes, and I couldn't help but wipe some of hers myself. "I know it was wrong, and I'm sorry you paid for it. I guess it's too late to do anything now". The amount of hopelessness in her voice shocked me. She wasn't giving up, was she? I caught her attention. "Hey" I said softly. "_I_ got myself into this mess. So don't blame yourself. And we'll figure something out, I promise". She gave me the biggest bittersweet smile. "The deadline is tomorrow Simon. Hate to break it to you, but it would take a miracle to get everything in time".

We both were quiet until we both heard a 'beep, beep!' from beyond the hedge. We both shared a look before climbing the tree that overlooked the leafy wall. We saw a large, white truck backing into the woman who always wore black's house. A man put box of food, after box of food onto a rolling cart and rolled it into the house. Looking at all the food going in, I smiled. "There's no way we're that lucky…" Alvin said behind me. "Still have that list Alvin?" I looked back at her and she had a paw on her chest and looked like she was thanking every god she knew. "You...you guys will help me?" she said, giving me the most heartfelt look so far. I turned to face her and grabbed both her paws. "Of course we will. We _all_ will. But first, no more secrets. You need to tell them".

She sniffed and nodded. Then softly brought me into a hug. "I...I don't...I don't know how to thank you Simon". I tightened my hold on her. "We'll figure it out later. Right now we need to get moving". I broke the hug and we both scurried down the hill. Knowing everyone was still mad at me, I let Alvin wake everyone up and gather them. She hadn't said a word yet, but she was shaking like a leaf. I set a paw on her arm. She appreciated that. And that's when she told the tale word for word she did me. Only, less tears. Their reaction was to be expected. They were shocked and betrayed. But like me, understood that she had no choice. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. But if you could muster up enough energy to help me now…"

They were all quiet. They got into a mini circle and whispered to each other. I gave her a smile and held her paw. It made me all tingly inside from just touching her. She gave me a smile in return. I let go when the group turned to face us. Brittany started. "Well, none of us are jumping for joy that you lied to us, and that you sat by and let us hurt Simon. _But_, we all agreed that if there ever was a perfect excuse for doing what you did, you have it. We're all angry and mad, but whatever punishment this guy said he'd give you isn't worth it. We'll help you. But you also gotta earn our trust back if you want to stay apart of this family" She ended. Everyone nodded.

"Wait...you mean you all would...g..give me another chance?" she said in awe.

"Well, like it or not you made yourself apart of this family, which is the only reason we're helping you" Ozzie said. Alvin's arms dropped.

"You guys really are too good for me" she said softly.

I decided it was my turn for apologies.

"Yeah, but Alvin's not the only one who needs to apologize"

The attention turned on me. "Yes I know my tail was right, but I also was jealous. I've been a jumbled mess this past week, and I didn't act about things right. I didn't mean to say what I said about you guys, and...and I'm sorry" I finished. I didn't fake it. Didn't hide anything, just plain sorry. That seemed enough for them.

They all ran up and gave me a hug. I could see Alvin standing outside the group hug. I extended my arm to her, but she declined. And looked at the moon. "Ok, I really hate to rush a warm moment, but we need to get started" she said. No one gave her any nasty looks, but they didn't seem to like to break the family moment. "Ok, stay in the huddle. Now, here's the plan…" she started.

* * *

**Alvin's POV**

"Now, the traps are here, here, here, here, here…" I said, pointing all over the cardboard layout of the yard. "...here, here, here, here, here, there's a big one here, here, here, and here" I finished. In short, the whole place was covered. "Geeze, is that all?" Penny asked. "No, there's a bunch of red lights everywhere" I looked at them all to see how they were doing. Simon looked a little sick. "You ok Simon? Looking a little green there" I asked. "Oh, uh, yeah. I blacked out for a second there, but...but I get the idea! There's lights, traps everywhere, oh-ho we're so doomed" he finished quietly. I huffed. Yep, always the positive one of the bunch. I still smiled though; he looked cute when worried. Pulling from my bag, I dumped a bunch of silver monopoly game pieces on the board. "Ok, this is us…" I started.

"Can I be the car!?" Hammy spewed. "I wanna be the car!" Theodore complained. "No, _I'm_ the car! You be the shoe!" Eleanor argued. "The shoe is _lame_!" he said in retaliation. "Why don't you be that snazzy looking iron there" Lou tried. I silently giggled, but got them back into focus. "Hey, it's not important. Besides, _I'm_ the car! I'm _always_ the car". Seeing I had their focus, I got back into the plan. "So, the plan works in three simple steps: Step one, kill the lights. Step two, get inside. Step three, get out with mountain of food" I finished. That was honestly the broad stroke. There were a bunch of details I left out to save time.

"But this place is a fortress, walls so high, doors impenetrable. How do we get in?" Ozzie exclaimed dramatically. Seriously, this guy should be an actor! Pulling out the flip phone we got, I played the recording I got of the woman's cat getting in. "The collar is the key" I said. They looked dumbfounded. "Literally, the collar" I repeated. "It's like a key that opens the door, and…"

"And what? You think he's just going to hand his collar over to you?" Brittany butt in.

I smiled, looking her up and down. "Not to me my friend. To _you_"

"Her?!" Simon exclaimed.

"Me?!" Brittany exclaimed as well.

"_You_ Brittany, will get that cat to give you his collar. By using…"

"My _stink_!"

I grabbed her face. "Your feminine charms" I said smoothly, making a point. Hammy for a split second burst out in hysterics, then just as quick covered his mouth. "Did I say that out loud?" I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to her. "Look chipmunk, maybe those stripes are obstructing your view, but if you haven't noticed, _I'm a skunk!_". I rolled my eyes at her sass. Really she's got an attitude. That poor cat doesn't stand a chance. "On the outside, maybe. But I'm looking inside Britt, and I see a _fox_! And all we need to do is get her out!" I ended.

* * *

In the background while I worked on Brittany, there was beeping. It gave me hospital vibes. Everyone had crowded around us two as I worked on her makeover. Not many would guess this, but I'm very good at styling. "Scissors!" I called. I used them to cut her bangs at an angle. "Charcoal!" I said next. I dumped the bin over her, turning any white fur black. "Air freshener!" I said next, spraying her down. The beeping in the back began going faster. "Tomato Juice!" Ozzie said. "Cork!" I ended. "Cork? _Don't you dare!_" she tried, but I put it in anyways. The beeping in the back began going erratic. I blinked. "Yeah!" "High score!" I heard from behind me. The triplets were playing their video game. I gave them a 'really?' look.

"One more thing…" I said, pulling out a remaining white hair. "Ow!" she snapped. I smiled while looking at my masterpiece. "Whoa stop! Ladies and gentlemen, our work here is finished" I told everyone, backing up. As Brittany sat up, she was given looks of awe. I had a smug face on, proud of my work.

"Oh wow…" Lou said.

"Big Geepers…" Penny commented.

"She's all like...wow!" Heather said in awe.

"What?" Brittany said confused. I held up a reflective silver tray for her to look at. What she would see was all her fur black, with her bangs shorter, and going to the right of her face, giving us view of her blue eyes. "Oh.." she said, looking at herself. She touched her face, then swung her long tail around. "Meow" she said slyly. Simon lightly elbowed me, giving me a sort of proud look. I smiled, looking on in pride as everyone complimented her. It made me wonder if I ever could look that pretty to someone. I hadn't realized how close to Simon I was until my hand had brushed his. A shock zipped up my arm at the contact, and I pulled my arm back. "Oh, s..sorry" I said.

Before he could reply, I walked forward to everyone. "Alright gang, this is it. We're going in!" I said, pulling Brittany to my side.

* * *

I waited until the exterminator's car drove away before I started the plan. Pulling out my trusty fishing rod, I launched it over the backyard and onto the roof of the house. That's when it caught. I pulled it a little to make sure it stayed before giving Hammy the Que. He jumped on the string, but it wasn't tight enough and he slowly sunk down. "Oh-Hammy!" I silently cried. I grabbed the pole and reeled the string in. How close he got to the laser, I didn't know, but I managed to save him in time. All the slack left the string and he crawled over to the roof. That's when he kicked the end back to me.

"Go, go, go, go, go" I quietly told him. He ran, but that's when he saw the cookie I threw over earlier in the week. "No, no, no, no! Hammy! I told you that cookie's junk!" I tried to quietly yell at him. "But I like the cookie!" he told me, the same way he did that second day. I groaned, frustrated. "Alvin, is everything ok?" Simon called up. I looked down with a strained smile. "Uh-huh". Groaning, I went to my bag for something to keep him concentrated. I threw out my boomerang, dodged it, and finally felt the cool metal of my red light. "Haha! Here we go!" I cheered quietly. Aiming it at the roof across from me, I guided Hammy down the water pipe. I dragged the light around until I got him to press the button that deactivated the lasers. Yes!

Sliding down the tree, I approached everyone. "Alright, step 2!" I cheered on. "I thought we'd be dead by step 2, so this is going great!" Simon said. To both himself and us. I whacked his shoulder playfully. We grabbed the fixed red cart and blue cooler and hid over to one of the backyard bushes. "Alright, you're up gorgeous" I said to Brittany, shoving her out. I winced, not meaning to push her so hard. She glared while I winced. "Maan, this better be one stupid cat…" she grumbled, walking forward. "Ok, sound!" I called out quietly. Ozzie pulled the lever, but instead of a nice 'meow' there was a booming 'MOOO'. I flinched, thinking we failed. "Well, let's hope he likes cows" Simon commented. I slapped my forehead.

"Who goes there!" an accented voice called. Brittany stalled as the cat came closer. I rolled my eyes. "You're a cat! You're a cat!" I whispered to her. She turned around. "You're a cat!" Another face slap. "I mean, _I'm_ a cat! M..Meow!" She retried. Man, that dog could have meowed better. "Yeah, right. Shoe! Go on, get out of here! My owner does not give scraps to _common strays_" the cat said. Man was he an a** "Common strays? Alright, you asked for it" Brittany said, getting into 'spray' position. "Get the collar!" I snapped. She turned right back around and continued her acting. "Gee, that's a nice collar you got on. Mind if I have a look?" she asked sweetly. Wow, she wasn't half bad.

"No! Come no closer! I must not be so close to a creature of the outdoor woods!" The cat repulsed. And sneezed. "Away with your filth!". "My filth?" Brittany started. Aaaand,_ there _goes the plan. "MY FILTH?!" She nearly screamed. "Aw Geepers, here we go" Penny said, ducking down. "That's IT! I am _sick_ and _tired_ of people taking one look at me and running away because they think I'm filthy!" she ranted. "Well, _I got news for you_! I didn't get all _prepped_ and _preened_ to have some overfed papa's puffball tell me he's too good for me! I've got makeup on my _butt_ dude! And you don't even want to _know_ about the cork!" She went, poking his nose and cornering him against the house.

"STOP! _No one_ has _EVER_ spoken to _me_ like that!" he hissed out, blue eyes thinning. I flinched as a flash of Marcus passed through my head. I began to get _very_ scared for Brittany. "It is bold...I like it" the cat finished simply. I let my head fall, all the worst scenarios leaving my head. I forced myself to relax when a paw grabbed mine. I looked into Simon's blue eyes, now focused. He was giving me a strong and firm look, while also looking horribly guilty. I got my bearings together. I could break down later. Right now we need to get going. Brittany snapped out of her stupor. "Well believe me, there's more where that came from!" She led him off while waving us over. We silently walked over to the cat door while Simon gave his opinion. "You know, I think this is the part where I blacked out. Did the little shoes and cars actually get _into_ the house?" he questioned. At the same moment, the cat's collar was thrown over Simon's shoulders. He blinked as the door clicked open. I grinned.

We snuck in as Brittany kept him occupied. Looking around, I could just hear the hight opera music in dramatic affect. It was freakishly clean and slippery. As well as _very_, _very_ tall. "Animals are in the house" I said slyly. I ran forward and slid over to the fridge. Pulling the handles, cold fog washed over me, along with light. It was stocked all the way to the top. I pulled out my list. I openly laughed in joy, seeing the majority of the things I needed on first glance. "Ok, positions everyone" I whispered. They nodded and got into place. "No grip, No grip, No grip!" Hammy said loudly, skidding around me. I grabbed him by his shoulders. "Hammy! Less claw, more pad".

"Oh, ok." he replied simply.

Then he ran full speed into a wall. I giggled.

Ozzie and Heather got clear rap ready to roll all the food down into to cart. That's when one of the triplets sat on a remote, and turned on the T.V. It sounded like full volume. Standing next to Simon, we both froze as Spikes flew at us from whichever kid it was at the T.V. It stopped soon after and an image of the human sleeping pooped up. I guess their technology practice worked. "Ok, ok we're good! Get back to work!" I called out silently. We worked, and worked, and worked, and worked until it got light out. We had just about run the place dry of all the food. I was exhausted. This week of barely any sleep, stress, and little food was wearing me down as I neared the end. But I wouldn't sleep. "Ok great! Going great!" I cheered on tiredly. That's when I heard a few beeps. Looking up, I saw the coffee machine starting up.

"What is that?" Simon questioned.

"_That_ is what gets the humans out of bed in the morning" I half said, half yawned. My mind was slow, but when I realized what I said, my head whipped around to the T.V. Both of us gasped seeing the bed empty. "Where'd she go?" Eleanor asked. I saw her slowly walking down the stairs. "Get down and stay down!" Simon whispered. While the human slouched into the kitchen, dragging her feet, we all evaded her by hiding behind the island. I watched as she got her coffee supplies. When she pulled out her sugar from a cabinet, I saw a can of Spuddies. Looking on my list, there wasn't another check by that one. "Ok, we need to go before she comes back" I heard Simon command from behind me. They all looked at me.

I thought about it. "No, we need those Spuddies! Lou, Penny! Back to the T.V. Heather! Keep an eye on that human!" She gave a thumbs up and left. Not before Ozzie followed her. I grabbed a chair as Simon followed. "The tingle, the tingle!" he complained to me. "Alvin, the wagon's full!"

"Hang on Simon, this'll only take a second!"

"Alvin, we need to go!"

"Just _a second_ Simon! I need to get these!" I argued as I climbed the whine coolers.

I was having a hard time reaching the can. The fact that I was having a hard time concentrating because I was tired didn't help.

"Come on, come to papa!" I mumbled.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Simon snapped.

He began pulling me back, trying to get me to stop.

"Alvin, now!"

"Stop it!" I fought, still trying to grab the can.

"We have _more than enough_!" he said, his voice going a little angry.

I broke.

I snapped back around and grabbed the fur on his chest.

"Look, I have about _this_ long to hand over that wagon full of food to a deranged chipmunk! And if those Spuddies aren't on the menu, _my virginity _will be!" It seems I said that a little louder than I meant to because everyone just looked plain horrified. I didn't tell them_ that_ detail because I didn't need them freaking out with me. "...w..what?" Simon whispered. Swinging myself back around, I made a last ditch effort to grab the can. I did so, but whatever I was on, a wine bottle I think, fell from my weight. Simon fell with me along with several other wine bottles. It created one of the loudest crashes I've heard. The human was on us in a second. She screamed and tried her best to avoid us. I tried to shake the heavy feeling of sleep from my eyes while I got up.

"SKUUNK!" the human screamed.

Looking at the cat door, I saw Brittany's makeup had dusted off. "Sorry you have to see this. FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She screamed. I didn't have time to react as the putrid skunk smell clouded everywhere. I coughed and choked for a second before plugging my nose. "Go Alvin! Go, we'll be fine" I heard Simon whisper. He shoved me forward. I blinked at him. Right before I left, he grabbed my arm. "Just...promise you'll come back the minute he gets it, or tries anything, ok?" I smiled and did that thing where I wrapped my arms around him. "Th...thank you Simon". Taking a step I never thought I would, I pecked his cheek. He looked bewildered while I grabbed the can of Spuddies and made my way out.

* * *

**Simon's POV**

I was still stood there, holding my cheek like a dufus when Alvin left. "Simon?" Hammy said from behind me. Snapping back into reality, I guided everyone to the same door Alvin escaped from. "Come on!" I ushered. But the door became blocked by the female human, who was coughing. I began running to my left when the other door was kicked open. To my utter horror, by the exterminator. I watched as the cat took a hit for Brittany. I'd have to thank him later for that. I saw another opening to the outside world. "This way!" I shouted, running towards it. Everyone joined. Just when I thought we'd make it, we hit something hard. I remembered what Alvin told us about 'glass' and groaned. We all simultaneously slid off it. Turning to see if we could run, we were cornered by the orange human. That's when he fired his net.

* * *

My cage was thrown roughly on top of Ozzie's and right next to Hammy's. I rubbed my sore shoulder and trembled in real fear from the human. The red human walked up and complained to the orange one. She shook my cage a little. I huffed at our situation, in fear and horror, but in a sort of...peace. I looked around in my daze when I spotted the large cart full of food in the distance, being dragged by one lone, female chipmunk. I grabbed the bars and thought about what she told us her 'mate' would do to her if she didn't have everything by today. 'There are much worse things than death' I realized. I prayed that this 'chipmunk' wouldn't harm her. 'I need to teach you not to lie so much' I thought to her. I could distantly see her face, these glasses giving me clear vision. I could see the defeat and exhaustion on her face.

She won't last a day on her own. And if this guy is as homicidal as I think, he won't hesitate to _use_ her like that. I let my head fall on the metal bars. 'Stupid! Simon, why didn't you go with her?! She's walking into this one, and you led her right into it'. I blinked back my regret and let myself fall back down. That's when the cages we were in started to move. "What's he gonna do to us mama?" Theodore asked. "I...I don't know baby" Penny replied. "I don't wanna die dad. Not for real" I heard Heather say to Ozzie. "There, there, there, sweetheart. We'll be ok" Ozzie said in an oddly serious voice. Something I bet he reserved just for Heather. I could hear Hammy's cage shaking with him, and saw Brittany reach up and grab his hand. His cage slowly stopped shaking. "You were right Simon. We should have just listened to you in the first place" Lou said quietly.

"No. Don't say that" I said just as quietly.

"Simon…?"

"She was just doing what she knew. What she was _taught_. This isn't her fault. It's all of ours. We just need to hope for her" I continued. All conversation stopped after that.

* * *

**Alvin's POV**

My muscles screamed as I pulled the heavy cart up the steep hill. I had another mile until the cave. I stumbled along, using whatever muscle I had when _his_ voice appeared, laughing somewhere behind me. It had been so long since I had seen him, heard him, _feared_ him. It all came rushing back. My over-awareness, my paralyzing fear. But I somehow pushed it back. "Marcus…" I mumbled, turning around. While he was still the same slob I knew him by, he lost weight. _A lot_ of it. He almost looked passable for a chipmunk. But I won't ever find him attractive. Not after all he's done to me. "Wow...hehehe. So, I was on my way down to come _get_ you…" he said, holding a small telescope.

"...but I stopped to watch the show. And I gotta say" he continued, getting too close for comfort. He slowly turned me to look down the hill, pressing the telescope to my eye. "That right there, is a thing of beauty". I watched as the exterminator loaded my friends...no, my _family_ into the truck. 'What...how...they were caught?!' I thought in a panic. I left them...I left them, and they're going to get killed! "That is the most _vicious_, _deceitful_, _self-serving_ thing I've ever seen" he said. I felt disgusting. Even worse than when he almost kissed me. "Hehehe, classic Alvin. You take the food, and _they_ take the fall!" he hissed in my ear. I was done with everything. Guilt, fear, pain. I don't care about me anymore. I'm just a disappointment, a mistake, a troublemaker. They deserve better than me.

I watched as the car drove off the road, barely aware of Marcus inching closer to me. "You keep this up, you're going to end up _Just. Like. Me._" he whispered, right in my chipped ear. I didn't focus on that. All I could focus on was the exterminator car turning onto the highway right below me. "Having _everything_ you ever wanted" he continued, moving his hand up my arms. "But I already had that…" I mumbled subconsciously. "What?" he humored me. "Them? Who are you kidding?" I flinched at the tone he used when saying that. "You are a family of one. Always have been. It's how animals like us survive" he said, moving my chin to look at him as if he was teaching me something important. I looked to the cart of food. Then to the car. An idea popping up in my head. "So a few _saps_ got hurt in the process. _Tough_. That's life. Trust me. You don't need them. You need _me_" he said, brushing his lips on my neck.

"Actually…" I said, coming to peace with the fact my next move might very well be the death of me. "...I do. And right now, they really need me!" I said, my voice lifting. Marcus moved from my neck, looking at me confused. Mustering up all my remaining strength, I punched him _right_ in the face and ran to the cart. "So, _I_ really need _this!_" I shouted, shoving the cart off the cliff. I hopped on last minute, ready for the ride. "ALVINN!" I heard behind me, rage clear as day in his voice. I lurched from each ledge I fell off of. Until finally I rolled on the road. I braced myself for the speeding car's impact. I wasn't braced enough. The window hit me like a thousand needles on my skin. The car spiraled out of control. I barely managed to grab the rear-view window as the car slowed to a halt.

Everyone seemed to have been freed from their cages. I met Simon at the window, putting my paws where his were on the glass. I gave a shy smile. He gave me a disbelieving one. "You _sorry_….something….somthing" I barely made out Brittany saying. "Brittany! Calm down, this is a rescue! I'm rescuing you!" I tried to tell her. "A...n!" Simon said.

"What?"

"R...n!"

"What?"

"ALVIN RUN!" I heard him scream. That's when I remembered Marcus.

I glanced behind me just in time to dodge a black blur. "AHH!" I screamed as he chased me. The car started to move the second he jumped on the hood. "YOU STUPID GIRL, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" he screamed. I screamed out of actual fear from him. I grabbed onto the rear view again and banged on the glass to try and get them to open the window. "LET ME IN!" I tried. Before I got an answer, I was forced to move from another one of Marcus' attacks. I ran around the roof before coming to to the opposite window where Hammy was at. "HAMMY! LET ME IN!" Not sure what he was doing, but he was ignoring me. I screamed again for any of them to help. "NO ONE'S GONNA HELP YOU GIRL! LIKE I SAID, YOU DESERVE ME!" Marcus screamed.

I had nowhere to go until the window next to me opened and arms pulled me in. Ozzie was my momentary hero. My arms were around him in a second, trembling and scared, but also relieved. "...th..thank you, thank you…" I whispered to him over and over. He rubbed my back when some glass shattered next to me. Ozzie was ripped from my arms and thrown somewhere out of sight. Marcus was there, bleeding but still moving. "You're _DEAD_ Alvin!" He said, piece of glass in hand. He swiped at me, narrowly missing my stomach. I accidentally screeched. "And your _friends are next_" He hissed, cornering me into the seat. Lou appeared out of nowhere and spiked him. Marcus practically roared in pain.

I flew to the left along with everyone else at a sharp turn. Marcus flew out the window, grabbing onto the rear view. I'm not sure when the car ran into balloons, but I do know that when they did, they carried Marcus off. I was still shaking even though he was gone. Simon instantly came at my side and helped me up. "Are you ok?". Just looking into his deep blue eyes, a contrast between Marcus' red calmed me significantly. "O..ok is a..very strong word" I replied. "Bonus points!" I heard Eleanor shout. We bumped over something hard and I fell on top of Simon. I shook the jitters from my body and sat up when it suddenly felt like there was no air around us. I flew up along with Simon. Looking out the window I could see us about to crash into the woman's house.

Simon did too and as if on instinct, he snatched me in his arms and tried to protect me from the impact. Thankfully, we just landed back on the seats. This time, I helped Simon up. He stumbled a little, but looked in perfect health. I brushed a few glass shards from his fur. How was he not hurt again? I looked at everyone else and saw they were little to not hurt at all. With all the fuss, I hadn't even noticed the human still in the car, knocked out. That is until he shifted. We all froze, seeing his eyes open in confusion. Then we all scurried out. I led them all out of, what was left of the door to the hedge. "Come on! Go, go, go!" I ushered. We all passed the leafy barrier, and I have never felt more at home.

"Lou? Penny? The kids here?" I asked, doing a headcount. I looked for Hammy and saw him staring at the sky, pointing. "Hammy?" I called out, still catching my breath. "Scary clown" he trembled. "Huh?" I looked up, and saw my worst fear: Marcus floating down to us. We all gasped. Simon instantly stood in front of me, pushing me behind him. Marcus didn't say a thing. Just pulled the last spine from his rear, popped the balloon, and charged us. Tangled in string or not, he was dangerous. "Look out!" I cried, pulling Simon into the hedge. We all ran, trying to escape him. We ran out to the other side, only to see the exterminator with a taser. The female kicked down a piece of wood, pulling out a weed hacker. "A weed hacker Simon, a _weed hacker_!" Hammy pointed.

I gripped Simon's arm in fear. For once in my pathetic and depressing life, I didn't know what to do. My attention snapped back to the exterminator as he tried to taze us. We fled back into the hedge. The humans nearly got me with the weed hacker, almost cutting the fur on my back. I leaped forward. Marcus was tearing apart the leaves from the other side, too tangled to come in any further, but not enough as to where he couldn't come out. Marcus almost cut the kids and the exterminator was close to hitting us with his taser with every second. Having no idea to save us all was killing me. I looked around and decided to pay for what I've done.

"That is it! Simon!" I called out.

He was there in a second. "Get everybody out of here! I'll distract him!" I said, half climbing a branch. "Are you kidding me? Alvin, he'll kill you!" Simon snapped, grabbing my hand. " _I'm_ the one he wants. Look, just...take care of your family Si" I said softly. I climbed up a few more branches. He followed. "I _intend_ to!" He snapped at me, yanking me down into his arms. "_Whole_ family".

"...Simon...it's the only…"

"There's got to be something we can do!" he argued desperately.

"But there's no time!" I argued back.

We both looked down in thought.

That's when it hit me. And apparently Simon too.

"Hammy!" we both shouted.

I looked at said energetic red squirrel. He was jittering nervously. Pulling from my bag, a saved energy drink, I cracked it open. Dumping it in his hand, I said to him "Drink _all_ of this!". "Oh, ok!" he said, not complaining one bit. I also pulled out a hidden bag of chips I had. They weren't Spuddies, but they'd work.

* * *

Simon didn't get any farther than an inch from me. I had my fishing rod string tied around my waist while he was at the ready. "Hey Marcus! You were right! With a Spuddie, enough just isn't enough!" I teased, eating the chip. "ALVIN!" He roared, charging me. I braced for impact as we were thrown from the top of the hedge. What happened next felt like slow motion.

Hammy had, faster than the speed of light, ran over and turned on the laser trap and came back. Marcus was going to attack me, but Simon reeled me back two feet from the hedge. I waved Marcus goodbye as he fell on the humans, setting off the trap. I fell back into Simon's arms, him holding me like a bride. Just like we planned, the humans fell dramatically from Marcus, right onto the lasers. We heard the machine beeping sporadically. Dropping myself from Simon, I grabbed from my bag glasses, a few snacks and some shields for the kids. It took no more and no less than seven seconds for light brighter than the sun to blast us. At first it stung, but thanks to the protection, we were all fine.

The kids roasted some marshmallows while I popped some popcorn. When it was done, I shared it with Simon. (Can I just say that it was a huge accomplishment for me to get Simon to eat human food without fear or complaint? Because it was.) When the trap finished, a large crater was in the middle of the yard with the exterminator, the woman, and Marcus trapped in a cage in the dead center. Pulling from my bag a slingshot, I shot a cooked marshmallow at Marcus' mouth. Humans will think he's sick. Like those girl scouts did with Hammy. Once that was done, the cheering began. I squealed and threw myself at Simon. He seemed ready for that as he held me too, spinning around. When Simon set me down, Hammy walked over to us. "Come here Hammy! You are a genius!" I complimented, ruffling his hair.

"Oh, thank yoBUUUUURP!" he tried to say, but flew off from a large caffeine burp. I fanned the air from the putrid smell. Simon joined. I laughed countless. We all jumped down from the hedge, celebrating the victory. I still had my bag around my shoulders as I watched everyone gather with their blood families. I watched Hammy dance around me in random moves. "BRITTANY!" I heard. It was the cat. "Over here Tiger!" She called back. Looks like those two hit it off well. They hugged each other and gave eskimo kisses. I looked on in guilt at the happy family I almost tore apart. "You know, Alvin…" Simon said, walking up behind me. "You could have told us the truth -the _whole_ truth- from the beginning. We would have helped you" he said softly.

I silently gasped. "R...really?"

"Yeah. That's what _real_ families do. They look out for each other"

"I've...I've never really had anything like that" I shrugged.

"I know, but this?" he said, paw on my back, gesturing to the group.

"..._this_ is the gateway to the good life"

I huffed as he copied my 'slogan'. "Wish you would have told me _that_ sooner" I huffed. "Yeah, that's just bad communication. _Also_ something families do". I smiled. He said it so...easily. "So...what do you say? Want to be apart of it?" he asked me, a vulnerable side to him I have rarely seen. I looked at him. Then at Ozzie, and Heather, and Lou, Penny, Jeanette, Eleanor, Theodore, Hammy, Brittany, Tiger was his name? And finally back to Simon. I took in a confident breath...and slid my golf bag off my shoulder. I was done running, living off of scraps. I was done being alone and abused. I was home here. And here is where I'll stay.

"Oh, come here! I promised I wouldn't do this, but…" Hammy said, running up to me and wrapping his arm around me. I tensed at first...but eased into the embrace. "Welcome to the family!" Ozzie said. "Group hug!" Heather said. Hug? Is _that_ what this is? I like it. I held everyone with the first carefree smile in my life. The hug broke and instantly Simon gently pulled me up to him. I was clueless as to what he was doing until he pressed his lips on mine. I jumped at first, this being my first kiss, but I eased into it. I thought there were a few 'whoops' and whistles, but I ignored it. The sparks and warmth coming from my lips overpowered all my exhaustion and injuries.

When we broke the kiss, I instantly bit my lip, staring into his deep sapphire eyes. I set my head on his as everyone clapped. We both laughed, the stress of our lives gone for the most part. "Wow, what a first week of spring" Simon announced. I grabbed his paw and leaned on him. That's when he jolted. "Wait a minute! That means there's only 267 days left until winter! What are we going to do for food?!" I groaned. 'Really? You had to break the moment?'.

"OH! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" Hammy cheered, paw raised. I humored him. "Yes, Hammy" I called, pointing to him. "I filled the log!" he said, pointing. I jolted back, and looked past Simon to see, yes! In fact the log, _was_ full. "Huh?!" I stated dumbfounded. Simon looked at me for an answer. I was just as confused. "Look! Look! I found my Nuts!" Hammy said, spazzing out and running into a tree.

I face-palmed.

What did I get myself into?


End file.
